AI Art: Finding a Middle Ground

If you scroll through social media for a particular amount of time, it won’t be uncommon to find artworks and designs with strange outlines, uniform textures, poor anatomical figures and indistinguishable lighting. With the rapidly growing field of artificial intelligence, its functionalities have extended beyond solving math equations or beating chess players, seeping into a field known for creativity and emotional expression: art. 

AI art is the term used for any design created by artificial intelligence, with a staggering average of 34 million images being created every day in 2024. Platforms such as Adobe Firefly, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion and DALL-E2 have significantly contributed to the spread of this technological artform. As opposed to a person, who can take several hours to create one art piece, with just a few sentences inputted by a user, these platforms can create hundreds of designs in just a few seconds. 

While there are many concerns with the implications of AI art and whether it has the ability to replace artists as a whole, it is a technology that is here to stay. Therefore, it is more productive to find a way for both the technology and the artist to co-exist. 

Can AI compete with human art?

On one end of the spectrum, people may claim that AI art will never be comparable to human art and that we will never see its widespread use within the media because consumers have a tendency to reject technology in the creative realm. 

This argument does have some basis. Humans tend to value human art, and an association of technology within creative fields oftentimes elicits a negative response. To test this theory, researchers used 30 AI generated images and labeled one half as “human-created” and the other half as “AI-created.” The participants were then asked to rate each of the artworks based on beauty and profundity. Even though all images were AI-generated, the ones who were labeled as “human-created” were rated higher across all criteria. This indicates a possible bias against AI art. 

In 2022, however, an artwork created by Midjourney, a generative AI platform, won a prize at the Colorado State Fair’s annual art competition. This marks one of the first instances where human creation lost to AI art while demonstrating technology’s ability to compete against human art. 

Although many claim that AI art won’t ever come close to human artists, its early stages have already managed to win over human creations. As it keeps evolving, its output will improve, making it even harder to distinguish between both types of art. 

Tool or replacement?

On the other end of the spectrum, people argue that AI is a danger to the artistic field because it can overtake the majority of art jobs, replacing humans.  

This fear is not unrealistic. In early 2024, Wacom, a drawing tablet manufacturer, received large waves of criticism for utilizing AI art in one of their ads. Artists argued this could impact job security amongst creative professionals, such as those who work with graphic design, illustration and animation. 

The issue of companies utilizing AI-generated art has even been taken to court. In 2023, a group of artists brought a class-action lawsuit against Stability AI, Midjourney and DeviantArt for copyright infringement. 

However, AI art may not be as popular as public perception would indicate. December 2022 saw a boom in searches for the term, but there has been a sharp decrease since then due to lack of constant updates. This means a new innovative and exciting feature needs to be introduced to bring back interest in AI art. 

Additionally, lawsuits that have been filed against the technology are yet another barrier to its proliferation in the work industry and can significantly restrict the freedom that AI art currently has. In August, U.S. District Judge William Orrick advanced all copyright infringements and trademark claims against AI-generated art, marking a significant win for artists. This order can also entangle in the lawsuits of any AI company that has included this model in their products. 

Uniting Forces 

AI has proven capable of creating beautiful artwork and provoking emotions among consumers. However, despite worries that the technological tool can replace artist’s jobs, it is very unlikely that it will be able to overtake the entire industry. In fact, it can be used as a tool to help designers. 

Artists have recognized that AI can be useful in many steps of the creative process. In the Writer’s Guild of Hollywood’s strike, for instance, they negotiated with the Alliance of Motion Picture, and agreed that AI can be a helpful tool if used ethically. 

Micah McLaughlin, a junior journalism major at UNC studying graphic design, supports this idea, claiming that AI can be a great starting tool, but an artist is able to further the ideas themselves. 

Dave McKean, an acclaimed English artist, also notes the potential usefulness of using AI, admitting to using the technology to produce designs that he later incorporated in his own art work.

Conclusion 

An important aspect of humanity is its ability to imagine and create. For centuries, it has been the primary being capable of expressing itself creatively. With the introduction of AI, that has been shifted. While AI art has brought and will continue bringing significant changes to the industry, it will need to be part of an environment that co-exists with other humans. Art jobs are still viable, for now, but will have slight changes as the technology becomes integrated into their work. Ultimately, with every technological advancement comes fear about how it will impact the lives of humans, especially in the workforce. However, rather than trying to halt this progress, its crucial that humans learn how to implement and benefit from AI in their daily lives.

Luiza Pires Ribeiro ’28